With the owners now on their way to Brisbane, Mick and I happily took the reins (literally) of running this household in the Auvergne.

The dogs are like chalk and cheese – so very different. The little Yorkshire Terrier was operated on last week to have her knee repaired and so is not able to walk very far until we see the vet next week when she has her stitches out. She and Mick go for a short walk, and I then take the Airedale Terrier on a longer walk for about 40 minutes. I am hoping I can do that twice a day while we are here and while the weather is as gorgeous as it is now. Meanwhile – Mick is busy with that pile of wood!

Mr H – the Airedale – is a very obedient dog. He can be trusted to go off lead when we are walking along the isolated roads around here. He will come when he is called and will walk on a lead without pulling my arm. He is a bit out of sorts because he knows his owners have left, but that hasn’t put him off his food or his interest in going for a walk. I am sure he will be fine.

We were actually more worried about Missie, as she was not keen on us at all for the first two days we spent here with her owners.

But….. she soon found our bed and decided that this would do her as well.

She is only tiny, but when she decided that last night she would also sleep on top of our bed, it was a little bit too cosy. She spent at least half the night there, but I am hoping she is happier to stay in her bed near the fire.

The scenery on our walks is stunning, and for all those readers from Australia, I apologise for showing you such luxuriant and well-watered farmland. It is such a contrast to what is happening at home at the moment.

Some of the walks take us through forest, while others are along bitumen paved community roads and sometimes, dirt roads used by farmers to get their farming machinery from one location to another.

Mick and I are very confident we are going to enjoy staying in this converted barn. The owners are doing an amazing job renovating this, although the ground floor only is complete. The two levels are very much a work in progress, but our room and bathroom are downstairs, so we are very comfortable.

They installed under floor heating in the kitchen and combined dining room, plus the large fire in the lounge room and this…….

…. keep us very warm when the temperature drops to below zero over night. We actually used this to make our dinner last night and our plan is to do this whenever we can while we are here.

Oh, and one thing that’d delighted me when we turned up a few days ago was the sight of this……

….. a rotary clothes line. It is not a Hills Hoist, but it is so nice to let the sun and the wind dry our well-worn clothes for a change.